I have had…or should I say 24 hours?? ALL my iphoto pics disappeared around 11 pm last nite and my iphone died today…supicious I have a virus…guess I will download some antivirus…but in the meantime its day 471 and I have to post a blog dont I??? As you know its Saturday…which means life modeling at USC Aiken….I had originally intended to go urban sketching downtown but did not feel up to it with the bronchitis I have had…hmmm do you think my computer caught it???

Tom offered to drive me and I said yes…I think I may have turned the corner finally!! HALLELUJAH!! BUT back to life modeling..you arent here to hear me natter on about all my viruses lol…

HARD BOARD – what is it? My friend Drew cut up a sheet of hard board for me. It is sold near the peg board at big box stores at $14 a 4×8′ sheet. Hardboard is what we used to call masonite…slap some gesso or house paint on it and you are good to go for acrylic and two layers of gesso for oil. ALOT of board for the price…try matching canvas with that cost! NOT happening. Like plastic bags it will be here long after we are all gone. If you drop it on the corners it tends to chip but otherwise great stuff…I have some that I painted on in collage that still is in great shape years later.

Brushes were 1/2 hog bristle and a 1/3″ filbert and a cheap house painting brush for the background. THe house paint brush is the kind that sheds hair…you get about 8 of them for a few dollars at michaels or lowes…great fun to paint with.

SO how did I paint Ilenia?? Colors used cerulean, Golden Nickel Azo gold, titanium white and pyrrole red with a dab of ultramarine blue…thats it..nothing else. I made the flesh by mixing the white with pyrrole red and Nickle Azo Gold. Cerulean was used to make the greys and lavenders as was ultramarine blue. The black and dark browns are ultramarine blue and pyrrole red.

I drew her first with the Nickel Azo Gold with the smaller filbert. Measured her and she stands 7 heads tall…her legs and feet could use more work…maybe tomorrow or maybe never lol..

I drew her head first..then marked the seven heads noting where each head length ended. I also dropped imaginary plumb lines off of her chin to see where her body lined up…also horizontal lines to check on her arms..I had one elbow much too low for a while….I also checked the negative spaces between the arms and how the one leg hit the chair, where the chair seat lined up with the right leg.

So what more is there to do…her feet could use some work. The background needs to be darkened…probably ultramarine to make her pop. Today I was into having fun with the paint…trying to be accurate but if I wasnt I didnt care…

Today we drew the lovely Amy. I was using Caran d’arch on 140# Kilimanjaro. Today was her fortieth birthday So HAPPY Birthday Amy.

I started by drawing her first in with a yellow ochre caran d’ache crayon. I had actually brought my watercolor pencils to give them a go starting the picture but instead I grabbed the crayon and off I went.

After I blocked in her head and measured her shoulders I just started adding colors. Most of her face was in heavy shadow.I probably should lighten the shadow under her nose and chin…looks like a goatee lol…BUT OH well..its a sketch and its DONE! I should have followed Charles Reid Iconic Rule NEVER use anything darker than burnt sienna on a younger face…I used Burnt Umber…DUH!!

It would be easy enough to fix. Just wet it down and wipe it off with a piece of bounty paper towel and recolor it with burnt sienna. MAYBE tomorrow or MAYBE NOT!! Thinking NOT!!

She has beautiful red hair. A darkish auburn. I didnt have anything remotely resembling her hair color so I added some dark pink to the burnt sienna…even if it wasnt the right color it was fun!! A girl needs her pink!

This is Amy after the first half an hour of drawing. Notice NO burnt umber under her lip.

SO I guilted myself into getting up and lightening up the shadow on her face. I do have to say that its MUCH easier to lift color off the Fabriano coldpress than off the Kilimanjaro. I scurbbed it a little with my hogbristle brush and then added some flesh color to lighten it up. The caran d’ache are really like a cross between pastels and watercolor.They tend to be a little more opaque than the watercolors I usually use which can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on what you are doing. I also added more highlights to her face. Now I really am calling her done.

I finished Amy about half way thru the second half hour session so I turned the board over and started playing with color on the other side. I sprayed it alot with water and had fun letting her drip. Added pinks to the ultramarine blues I was using.

This is my favorite part of this sketch…arent the colors just gorgeous?? This is her tummy and her belly button in case you didnt know!!

The model Amy actually bought this one from me…THANKS AMY!!!

ANYWAY, Caran d’ache are ALOT of fun…go get a small box and have fun drawing. They keep you from getting too tight. Add in a spray bottle and it will produce some of the most delicious drips you have ever seen.

With the lovely Amy. My best one so far I think….love the way it turned out. I did the sketch completely from start to end with Caran d’Arches Neocolor II watersoluble wax pastels.

TIP: I sprayed them with a fine misty spray bottle to get the colors to brighten. It was so much easier than brushing the colors with a brush that I was finished early….this is a big picture…on a watercolor half sheet. If you do this why its vertical you get some lovely drips of color.

TIP: I also used an old grumbacher hog bristle brush to life color off the page. That worked great like across the top of the thigh where I did not have enough curve and the light on the front of the left leg.

TIP: You can also wipe out color at least on Fabriano with a folded paper towel. Fabriano is terrific for letting you lift color when its wet. Tough paper!!

Try it you will see how much easier it is…I think this would work with watercolor pencils too. I hate to think of the number of times I have spent hours coloring a picture with watercolor pencils only to loose some lovely detail when you wet them with a brush.

The texture of the sketching can also just disappear before your eyes when you use a brush…Going to try that technique again…alot of fun. Paper is Fabriano Artistico 140# watercolor paper.

Now will an animal or a person PLEASE hold still long enough for me to sketch them??

It’s Saturday. That means the faithful are trekking to Aiken to sketch. Most Saturday’s find Ruth, Tom and I meeting at Earthfare to make the forty mile drive to USC Aiken.

Our model today was Elena.

This is as far as I have gotten. The purple in it is piemonite mixed with cobalt. I am going to check my plumb lines. I think the left eye is too high still. And her hair…please models wear your hair DOWN…that upswept hair may look quaint and cute but oh my what a pain it is to paint with watercolors!!

At least she does have a nice glow to her. I have to say LOVING that Fabriano Artistico cold press 140#. Dampen the offending paint and it just about wipes off this paper. THANK goodness!!

She’s gone thru quite a few revisions. Still not happy with her.

My favorite part…that might tell you how much I like this painting!!

Here she is after working on her at USC AIken this morning. Not liking her much at all!!

Splattered most of the background on with a combo of Piemonite and Cobalt…soupy. I should have turned that top paper towel DOWN!! Had to clean up alot of splatters from her face and her right shoulder OOPS!! But the background is my favorite part of this.